Dear Editor,
In a recent Op-Ed piece Mohave County Supervisor Travis Lingenfelter did a good job explaining the county library’s process for a member of the public to have an offensive book removed from the library’s shelves, along with the fact that the final appeal goes before the board of supervisors. That is not the question at hand.
The question before us is should the board accept inappropriate books for children from an unknown donor and place them on the shelves of a property tax funded government library?
Others have stated that it is the parents’ responsibility to control their children and I agree. Here is the rub. The county library will let any child 11 years and older check out any book or video they choose. This doesn’t support parents; this undermines their parental authority.
A few have questioned the supervisor’s authority to refuse donations, state law ARS 11-914A gives the board the authority to accept or reject donations. You can imagine what could happen if we had to accept each and every donated item.
Some are claiming censorship, but adults have the ability to read whatever they choose within the law, but the taxpayers have no obligation to provide it or house it. The items in the Mohave County Free Library should be acceptable to the taxpayers that fund it.
Ron Gould
Mohave County Board of Supervisors
District V
